Daughter
by coerulus
Summary: The process is long and slow, but Red finally rebuilds her family. Her real family. #sg10thanniverse #sgnoromoweek I don't own SG.


The first time she sees him, she recoils. Her reaction is appropriate, of course, considering that this seemingly innocent bag of bones ate her grandmother and is now offering to be her friend. She curls up into the hood of her jacket and wraps her arms tightly round her midsection, her luminous brown eyes furtively darting up to steal glances at the man in front of her.

"There is nothing to fear, child. The Wolf is gone now." She jumps violently when the man addresses her. A thin whimper escapes her mouth, her vocal chords refusing to function out of this extreme fear.

The man sighs, regretfully, as he runs his hand through his shock of white hair. Clearly, and understandably, the little girl is still terrified of him.

He draws up a chair and sits next to her. She scoots away in a panic. He reaches out hesitantly to touch her shoulder, but she curls in on herself, eyes wide with fear as a tiny squeak that could have been interpreted as 'stop' escapes her mouth. He withdraws his hand quickly.

"I won't hurt you, child," he says in a quiet, soothing voice. He coughs, his old age getting the better of him. "I am here to help. I know what it feels like."

She shakes her head violently.

"You felt like you were not in control of your body," he persists gently. "It was scary, wasn't it?"

Her head pokes out just the tiniest bit from her hood as she studies the old, gaunt face. He has sharp gray eyes framed by webs of wrinkles and a large, slightly crooked nose. His thin, pale lips are curved in a kindly smile. She blinks once and gives a tiny, almost imperceptible nod, and the man nods back at her.

"You have strange flashbacks where you remember bits of your life before you were cured, am I right?"

Her body doesn't respond well to the word 'flashbacks'.

 _A laugh. An evil, malicious laugh._

 _A short man, with eyes that were dark—oh, they were so, so black and dark._

 _The baby boy._

 _Windows, holes to the outside world that the man uses to see._

 _An old woman with an instrument at her lips._

 _A tall man, young and frantically running in front of the big cage._

 _The big cage with the doggy in it._

She lets out a ragged gasp as she straightens up in her chair. The old man watches her, concern flooding his eyes as he reaches out to help her.

"What did you see, child?" he asks gently, focusing his gaze on her eyes.

She can't do it.

She just can't.

She opens her mouth to say something, but all that comes out is a choking sob.

x.X.x

They continue like this for several weeks. Tobias is patient and always kind towards Red, and Red gradually starts to open up to him. She doesn't shrink away from his touch anymore, and she won't hide within the folds of her hoodie when he speaks.

"What did you see, child?" he asks her.

She opens her mouth, and nothing but a dry squeak comes out. She closes her mouth and tries again. "Holes."

Excitement surges through the old man's body. He would have to inform Relda later. "Holes, child?"

She nods and sniffles, blotting tears away from her eyes. Something firm and warm touches her cheek, and she finds that it's the old man's thumb, wiping away the moisture that's dripping from her eyes without permission.

"You have made excellent progress today, child," he says, beaming at her. "I…I am very proud of you."

For the first time since she was cured, Red smiles.

x.X.x

It's been three months since Red met Tobias, and each time they meet, he squeezes her hand and lets her know how brave she is, how strong she's been and reminds her of the progress she's made in three months. She's finally come out of her shell, he thinks as he watches the child skip away to help prepare for the wedding.

Guitar and harmonica notes fill the air and Red runs over to him, where he sits solemnly in a chair.

"Papa, what are you doing? You should be dancing," she says, bemused.

"I am quite old, child," he objects.

"You should still have some fun," she insists, tugging at his hand. "That's why we're having a wedding in the middle of a war—so we can have fun."

He sighs. Creaky joints or no creaky joints, the child is right—he needs to do something that isn't terribly depressing to break up the monotony of this war. He slowly follows her onto the dance floor as her auburn curls bounce upon her tiny shoulders and she spins him round.

"See, Papa?" she says happily. "You aren't too old to dance. Nobody's too old to dance."

He smiles. "I do believe you're right, child." She grins up at him and twirls around in a circle, giggling all the while.

It's late when the music finally peters out, and the cold white moon casts its light over the rose-covered courtyard.

"Time to sleep," he finally tells Red, who's still spinning around in her ruby dress. She stops, hesitantly, then runs to Tobias and throws her arms around his middle.

"Goodnight, Papa," she says. Surprised, yet pleased, he pats her on the back.

"Goodnight," he says, "daughter."

* * *

 **A/N: You know that tag or post or something on Tumblr about 'which character is your sweet precious little cinnamon roll' (or something along those lines)? Well for this fandom, Red is 100% definitely my little cinnamon roll. Like I just want to give her a big hug and tell her everything's gonna be alright and she's so strong and-**

 **Welcome back to another episode of Annie Rambles! But really, I love Red. She's such a little darling and she doesn't deserve to go through so much pain.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading! Please favorite this story and leave a review :)**


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